Downfall

# Downfall with Intel Core i5-10400F + AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT

The combination of Intel's Core i5-10400F and AMD's Radeon RX 7700 XT delivers a robust experience in Downfall, a horror title released in 2016. Benchmark data shows this pairing sits at rank 725 out of 1,741 tested combinations in this game, placing it in the upper-middle tier of system configurations. The measured frame rates reveal a system that is strongly GPU-bound at higher resolutions, with the CPU providing sufficient headroom at lower settings where frame rates exceed 260 FPS.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-10400F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Comet Lake architecture, built on Intel's 14 nm process. It operates with a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.30 GHz, with a 65 W TDP. The processor supports DDR4 memory in dual-channel configuration, providing 42.7 GB/s of memory bandwidth, and connects via PCIe Gen 3 with 16 lanes. Its cache hierarchy includes 64 KB of L1 per core, 256 KB of L2 per core, and 12 MB of shared L3 cache.

In synthetic benchmarks, this CPU demonstrates balanced scaling across thread counts. The 3DMark results show a progression from 688 points in single-thread to 1,350 in 2-thread, 2,560 in 4-thread, 3,929 in 8-thread, and 4,748 in 16-thread tests. This scaling pattern indicates that the processor efficiently utilizes additional threads up to its 12-thread capacity. Cinebench R23 scores of 1,453 single-core and 10,297 multi-core further characterize this as a capable mid-range desktop processor. The PassMark single-thread score of 2,541 and multithread score of 12,115 reinforce this positioning.

The CPU's average benchmark score of 14,168 places it at the 73rd percentile of all processors. Its nearest rivals include the AMD EPYC 7552 with an average score of 14,115 (0.4% slower), the AMD Ryzen 3 7320C at 14,277 (0.8% faster), the Intel Core i5-8500 at 14,332 (1.1% faster), and the AMD Ryzen Embedded V2546 at 14,336 (1.2% faster). This tight cluster of scores within roughly one percent indicates that the i5-10400F delivers compute performance squarely within its expected tier.

For Downfall, a horror game from 2016, the CPU's 6-core/12-thread configuration is more than adequate. The game's engine does not appear to be thread-heavy, given that the measured FPS at 1080p Low reaches 262.2 FPS, which is well beyond what the GPU can sustain at higher settings. The single-thread performance, reflected in the 688-point 3DMark single-thread score, provides the responsiveness needed for the game's traversal and enemy AI, while the multi-thread capabilities handle background tasks and streaming without bottlenecking the GPU.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT is built on the RDNA 3.0 architecture with the Navi 32 chip, manufactured on TSMC's 5 nm process. The GPU contains 28,100 million transistors on a 346 mm² die, resulting in a transistor density of 81.2 million per mm². It features 3,456 shading units, 216 texture mapping units, and 96 raster operation pipelines, alongside 54 ray tracing cores. The GPU clock speeds include a base of 1,435 MHz, a boost of 2,544 MHz, and a game clock of 2,171 MHz, with memory clocked at 2,250 MHz or 18 Gbps effective.

The memory subsystem consists of 12 GB of GDDR6 on a 192-bit bus, delivering 432.0 GB/s of bandwidth. This configuration yields a pixel rate of 244.2 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 549.5 GTexel/s, with FP32 performance rated at 35.17 TFLOPS. The card has a 245 W TDP, requires a 550 W suggested PSU, and uses dual 8-pin power connectors. It supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4, with a PCIe 4.0 x16 interface.

In GPU benchmarks, the RX 7700 XT achieves a PassMark G3D score of 22,547 and a PassMark GPU Compute score of 12,912. Its 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score is 3,316, while Geekbench scores reach 127,549 in OpenCL and 132,758 in Vulkan. The average benchmark score of 30,097 places the GPU at the 73rd percentile of all graphics cards. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 with an average score of 30,109 (0.0% difference), the AMD Radeon RX 570 at 30,158 (0.2% faster), the NVIDIA Tesla M60 at 29,969 (0.4% slower), and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Mobile at 29,928 (0.6% slower). The near-identical scores to the RTX 5060 and RX 570 indicate that the RX 7700 XT delivers performance within a narrow competitive band.

For Downfall, the GPU's 12 GB VRAM and 432.0 GB/s bandwidth are substantial for a 2016 title. The game's textures and effects are well within the card's capacity, as evidenced by the frame rates at Ultra settings. The 50.4 FPS average at 4K Ultra indicates that even the most demanding presets are playable, while the 110.1 FPS at 1080p Ultra shows the GPU can push high refresh rates at lower resolutions.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals how the system scales across resolutions and settings. At 1080p, the frame rates range from 110.1 FPS at Ultra to 262.2 FPS at Low, showing a wide performance envelope. Moving to 1440p, the range shifts to 77.1 FPS at Ultra and 188.6 FPS at Low. At 4K, the range narrows to 50.4 FPS at Ultra and 117.4 FPS at Low.

The scaling from 1080p to 4K at Low settings shows a drop from 262.2 FPS to 117.4 FPS, a reduction of approximately 55%. At Ultra settings, the drop is from 110.1 FPS to 50.4 FPS, a reduction of about 54%. This consistent scaling pattern across settings indicates that the GPU becomes the limiting factor as resolution increases. The CPU, with its 6 cores and 12 threads, maintains enough headroom to feed the GPU even at 4K, as the frame rate drops are proportional to the pixel count increase.

The data suggests that at 1080p Low, the system is likely CPU-bound, as the 262.2 FPS figure approaches the practical limit for many game engines. As resolution increases to 1440p and 4K, the GPU load grows, and the frame rates scale accordingly. The 4K Ultra result of 50.4 FPS demonstrates that the RX 7700 XT is still the primary constraint at the highest resolution, with the CPU not yet becoming a bottleneck even at these higher pixel counts.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers an average of 262.2 FPS on Low settings, 216.5 FPS on Medium, 176.3 FPS on High, and 110.1 FPS on Ultra. The transition from Low to Medium incurs a drop of 45.7 FPS, while Medium to High drops 40.2 FPS, and High to Ultra drops 66.2 FPS. This indicates that the Ultra preset imposes a significant additional load compared to High.

At 2560x1440, the averages are 188.6 FPS on Low, 153.8 FPS on Medium, 125.8 FPS on High, and 77.1 FPS on Ultra. The scaling from Low to Ultra shows a reduction of 111.5 FPS, representing a 59% performance decrease. The gap between High and Ultra at this resolution is 48.7 FPS, which is proportionally similar to the 1080p gap.

At 3840x2160, the averages are 117.4 FPS on Low, 94.7 FPS on Medium, 77.5 FPS on High, and 50.4 FPS on Ultra. The Low to Ultra drop of 67.0 FPS represents a 57% reduction, consistent with the scaling observed at other resolutions. The minimum FPS values are not provided in the data, so the analysis relies solely on average frame rates.

The overall pattern shows that at every resolution, the step from High to Ultra is the most demanding, with percentage drops of 37.5% at 1080p, 38.7% at 1440p, and 35.0% at 4K. This consistency suggests that the Ultra preset uniformly increases GPU load across all resolutions, likely through additional shadow quality, post-processing effects, or texture filtering settings.

FAQ

Q: Is the Intel Core i5-10400F sufficient for playing Downfall at high frame rates?

A: Yes. At 1080p Low settings, the system reaches 262.2 FPS average, and at 1080p Ultra it still achieves 110.1 FPS. The CPU's 3DMark 16-thread score of 4,748 and single-thread score of 688 indicate ample processing power for this 2016 title.

Q: How does the RX 7700 XT compare to its closest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The RX 7700 XT has an average benchmark score of 30,097, which is essentially identical to the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 at 30,109 (0.0% difference) and the AMD Radeon RX 570 at 30,158 (0.2% faster). It is 0.4% faster than the NVIDIA Tesla M60 and 0.6% faster than the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Mobile.

Q: What is the best resolution and settings combination for smooth gameplay?

A: At 4K, the Ultra preset yields 50.4 FPS, while High produces 77.5 FPS, Medium 94.7 FPS, and Low 117.4 FPS. For a 60 FPS target at 4K, the High preset is the appropriate choice. At 1440p, all settings exceed 77 FPS, and at 1080p, even Ultra delivers 110.1 FPS.

Q: Does the system become CPU-bound or GPU-bound at different settings?

A: At 1080p Low, the 262.2 FPS result suggests the CPU may be the limiting factor, as this exceeds typical engine limits. At higher resolutions and settings, the GPU becomes the constraint, evidenced by the consistent performance drop from 1080p to 4K across all settings.

Q: How much VRAM does the RX 7700 XT have, and is it enough for Downfall?

A: The RX 7700 XT has 12 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus with 432.0 GB/s bandwidth. For a 2016 horror title, this is more than sufficient, as evidenced by playable frame rates at 4K Ultra with 50.4 FPS.

Q: What is the CPU's percentile ranking and what does it mean for gaming?

A: The i5-10400F ranks at the 73rd percentile of all CPUs with an average benchmark score of 14,168. Its nearest rivals are within 1.2% in either direction, meaning the processor performs as expected for its class. For Downfall, this translates to consistent frame delivery without CPU-induced stutters.

Q: How does the 4K Ultra performance compare to 1080p Ultra?

A: The 4K Ultra average of 50.4 FPS is 54% lower than the 1080p Ultra average of 110.1 FPS. This proportional drop indicates that the GPU is the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions, with the CPU maintaining sufficient performance headroom throughout the resolution range.